The present invention relates to a rail car mounting block assembly for electrical interconnections between railway cars and to a lanyard for receiving an electrical cable with the lanyard connecting to the assembly. It also relates to the lanyard in combination with the cable.
Today's railroad trains are equipped with air brakes and the trains' cars are provided with air brake pipes that terminate at the end of each rail car. The pipes have air hoses that connect to the pipes at the end of each car and extend or hang between each car. The combination of pipes and hoses carry compressed air to operate the brakes on each car. The flow of compressed air is controlled by valves mounted on the brake pipes at each end of each car. The air hoses that hang from each end-of-car brake pipe are joined between the cars by what is known as a “gladhand”. To prevent the hoses themselves and the gladhands from swaying too much or to prevent them from touching the tracks, there have been field fixes comprised of wires or chains that are hooked or connected to the gladhand and various parts of the rail car to attempt to prevent the air hoses from hitting the ground.
Likewise, freight trains may have electrical cables that also run along each car and from car to car. The electrical cable connections are also mounted at the end of each car (usually at junction boxes) and their cables have restraining wires and chains similar to those used with the air hoses. This results in additional wires and chains dangling from the end of each car and between the cars.
The air hose connection (the valve) at the end of each rail car and the electrical connection (the junction box) at the end of each car are not co-located. Attempts to restrain the hoses and cables between cars has resulted in a hodge-podge of field solutions that have failed to satisfactorily prevent cable and hose entanglements or damage or even outright breakage of the hoses, cables and connections.
The problem is compounded by the fact that the differing lengths of the electrical cables used to connect the electrical system between rail cars has resulted in sporadic and ineffective field solutions to restrain and protect them. Thus, the number and types of restraining ropes, chains, wires, etc has proliferated, but not solved the problem.
Further compounding the problem is the situation where the air hoses and cables are on rail cars that are used for rotary dumping. In this mode, there is more of a tendency for the air hose and the electrical cables to get tangled and twisted, resulting in the aforementioned damage to hoses, cables and connections and a potentially unsafe condition.
The present invention is designed for applicability to all types of rail vehicles including transit, freight and highway/rail.
The present invention provides for a mounting block assembly for electrical interconnections between rail cars. The mounting assembly comprises a housing having a threaded opening therethrough adapted to receive an electrical plug and electrical cable. The assembly has a securing mechanism for attaching the housing to a rail car and the housing also has a receiving means for receiving a connector of a lanyard. The invention further provides for a lanyard having a plurality of loops for receiving an electrical cable with electrical connectors at both ends. The lanyard itself also has connectors at both ends with one of those connectors attaching to one of the cable's electrical connectors and the other connector attaching to the receiving means of the housing. The invention further provides for a combination of the lanyard and the electrical cable.
The mounting block assembly has four preferred embodiments that relate first, to the way the housing is structured and second, to the way the housing is attached to a rail car. In one embodiment, the housing has an arcuate frictional surface formed as a portion of a surface of the housing wherein the securing mechanism can be a C-clamp. The C-clamp, which may or may not have an arcuate frictional surface, secures the housing to an air valve pipe or a connector or equivalent structure in a position juxtaposed the arcuate frictional surface of the housing. This preferred embodiment has two related versions wherein the housing has its arcuate frictional surface formed as a portion of either the top or the side surface of the housing and wherein the securing mechanism may be at least one U-bolt in either or both versions. The least one U-bolt secures the housing to the air valve pipe or connector or equivalent structure juxtaposed the arcuate frictional surface of the housing.
It should be noted that the housing for the above-referenced preferred embodiments may have an arcuate surface that is not corrugated or have other frictional surface attributes.
In a second preferred embodiment, the securing mechanism includes a plurality of bolts that secures the housing to a mounting plate adjacent a rail car's air valve located at the end of a rail car.
In a third preferred embodiment, the securing mechanism for securing the housing to a rail car includes making the housing and a rail car's brake pipe air valve as a monolithic unit, such as casting, that is located and mounted at the end of a rail car.
For all preferred embodiments, the housing's means for receiving the connector of a lanyard could, if desired, be a threaded eyebolt or a snap-pin and ring or equivalent securely attached through an opening in the housing. The means could also be, if desired, a ring or equivalent receiving means with the means and the housing made as a monolithic unit, by a method such as casting.
The mounting block assembly housing could, if desired, have a single or a plurality of threaded tubes, nuts, bushings and sleeves to provide support for an electrical cable and to provide a strain relief mechanism for a connected electrical cable. The housing could also have a restraining device to prevent movement of an electrical plug that is threadably inserted into the opening of the housing.
The opening of the housing can be threaded or not and can, if desired, be independent of a rail car's air hose or of its brake pipe.
The present invention further provides for a lanyard for an electrical cable. The lanyard comprises a strap made of a continuous piece of material of a fixed length having first and second ends. The lanyard also has a plurality of loops, adapted for receiving the cable, the loops being located along the length of and extending outwardly from the strap. A first connector is attached at one end of the strap and a second connector is attached at the other end of the strap.
The lanyard could, if desired, be made of a cloth of manmade fibers such as KEVLAR, (polyaromatic amides) polypropylene, nylon and polyester. The loops can, if desired, be made of a cloth of man-made fibers such as KEVLAR, polypropylene, nylon and polyester. The loops can be of a fixed circumferential length or the loops could be openable and made of, for instance, hook and loop material or other adjustable mechanisms or materials such that the loop's circumference is fixed or adjustable. The loops can, if desired, be attached to the strap by sewing, riveting, adhesive bonding, ultra sonic welding or other equivalent attaching means.
The lanyard's first connector can, if desired, be a threaded eyebolt, hook, clip, clasp, split ring, snap or equivalent for attaching to an electrical cable connector receptable. The lanyard's second connector could, if desired, be an open hook, split ring hook, crab-claw hook, snap-closing hook, or equivalent. The lanyard could, if desired, be capable of withstanding a pull of up to 500 pounds and shock force of up to 1000 pounds.
The invention further provides for a lanyard in combination with an electrical cable comprising an electrical cable of a first length having first and second ends with first and second electrical connectors attached at the first and second ends, respectively. The first electrical connector has a receptable for receiving a connector. The lanyard is comprised of a strap of a second length having first and second ends with first and second connectors attached at those ends, respectively. The strap has a plurality of loops along the length of and extending outwardly from the strap wherein portions of the electrical cable are encompassed by the loops. The first connector is attached to the receptable on the first electrical connector.
The lanyard can be further comprised, if desired, as previously described herein, regarding the material of the strap and loops, the attachment of the loops to the strap and the structure of the first and second connectors. Also, the first length (of the cable) can, if desired, be longer than the second length (of the strap). The lanyard, can, if desired, provide load relief when there is a pulling apart force between train cars, thereby preventing stress on the first electrical connector.
Other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.